SAD president Sukhbir Badal and other party leaders protest against the Capt government in light of the hooch tragedy in Patiala on Friday; (below) senior party leader Bikram Majithia detained after he tried to stage a protest near the Raj Bhawan in Chandigarh. (Photo: Kamleshwar Singh)
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Friday claimed that Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh cut short his visit to Tarn Tarn to 15 minutes and did not come out of Police Lines fearing the anger of the hooch tragedy victim families, most of whom refused his “summons” despite tremendous pressure from police and district administration.
Addressing a press conference here following a protest along with victims’ families which threatened to break police barricades and enter Police Lines before it was suppressed with force, SAD spokesperson Virsa Singh Valtoha said the chief minister chose to return to Chandigarh within fifteen minutes of getting down from his helicopter after he learnt of the massive protest by victim families outside Police Lines.
Valtoha, who was accompanied by Harmeet Singh Sandhu, Iqbal Singh Sandhu and Alwinder Singh Pakhokhe, said the chief minister was “forced to come to Tarn Taran following the angst of the people”. “However, even after coming here he could not face them and chose to retreat to his farm house in Chandigarh. Attempts by the police administration to force victim families to attend the Raja’s Durbar also failed with most victim families choosing to keep away from the function. This is why the chief minister gave a two-minute speech and ended his visit midway,” he claimed.
The Akali leader said SAD workers of the area accompanied by victim families decided to meet the CM to tell him about the real culprits in the hooch tragedy case.
He further said that a family member of a victim had recorded a statement with the police accusing a Congress legislator of distributing spurious liquor through his personal assistant, and that they had also wanted to inform him about the involvement of several other party MLAs’ in the liquor trade, operation of illegal distillery or running an illicit liquor business. “However, instead of listening to us as well as the victim families, the chief minister gave due place of honour on stage to Congress legislators who are being accused of being involved in illicit liquor trade and against whom murder charges under section 302 should be pressed,” added Valtoha.
Valtoha also alleged that former Tarn Taran SSP Dhruv Dahiya had refused to take action against illicit liquor dons, despite representations and even scooter and car numbers of people running the trade being given to him. He claimed that a Congress leader and two party MPs had admitted that party leaders were running the illicit liquor trade in the state, but they were being shielded.
Some SAD leaders including Bikram Singh Majithia were briefly detained by police as they tried to stage a protest near the Raj Bhawan, demanding dismissal of the Congress government in the state. Talking to reporters at the protest site, Majithia dubbed the CM’s visit to Tarn Taran as a mere photo op.
Demanding a CBI probe into the incident which has so far claimed 121 lives, the senior Akali leader said, “Our party demands justice for the victims. We will continue our fight till they get justice.”
Amarinder took too long to step out of his farmhouse: AAP
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) state president and MP Bhagwant Mann on Friday said the CM had taken too long to come out of his Siswan farmhouse to share his grief with the aggrieved families at Tarn Taran.
In a statement issued from party headquarters, Mann said that it was on July 29 that the first death due to spurious hooch was reported and subsequently, the toll had touched the 113 figure, but the CM was not there to hold the hand of the aggrieved families.
He said that the “dance of death and destruction” still continued, and that the “meagre” increase in financial aid to the victims was mere lip sympathy.
The AAP leader said that if the CM was serious about his own statement that the liquor deaths were plain murder, he should immediately register cases against his own MLAs and others involved.
“What can be worse than the fact that to force the Maharaja CM out of his farmhouse and share the grief of the families which lost their bread winners, AAP had to go the whole hog by holding protests and staging dharna,” he added.
He said the AAP would continue to raise the issue from the roads to Vidhan Sabha to the Parliament till the time justice was done.